Book-holder



(No Model.)

A. WINTERMUTE.

BOOK HOLDER.

No. 302,304. Patentd July 22, 1884.

N. PETERS. moLm-n n nw. Via-him 0.1:.

Nrrnn STATES FATENT rricn.

JAMES A. \VINTERMUTE, OF MUSGATINE, IO\VA.

BOOK-HOLDER.

JIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,304, dated July 22, 1884-.

Application filed October 1, (No model.)

f0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. \VINTERMUTE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Muscatine, in the county of Muscatine and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Book-Holders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to provide a convenient adjustable holder for heavy books.

F to the back so as to fold upward.

I accomplish this by the construction of such a holder as is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front View of the holder open and in an inclined position. Fig. 2 is the same view of the holder with an open ,book. Fig. 3 is a front View with a book .closed. Fig. 4 is a side view of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a side view of holder in a horizontal raised position. Fig. 6 is a detached view of the front support. Fig. 7 is a section of a lid-support rod.

A is a support-board, to which the holder is attached.

Bis the back board of the holder, hinged at the front to the support plate or board, hereinafter described.

O O are the lids or sides of the holder, hinged Heavy leather strips (4 a are fastened to the back over the hinges, and extended partly across the lids, as shown, forming smooth bearings for a book held by the holder.

D represents a board or plate, hinged at the inner end to the support-board A, and at the front end to the front end of the back B.

E E represent rods having eyes at each end, and attached at the lower ends to eyebolts in the support-board A, and at the upper ends to cyebolts attached to the lids O C, so that the rods will readily assume any required position for supporting the lids in an open or closedinelined or horizontal position. These rods are constructed in two parts, so as to be adjustable in length by means of the wellknown nut 0, having right and left screwthreads to receive the screw ends of the rods, for the purpose of adjusting the holder to books of different thicknesses, it being evident that the thicker the book the shorter must be the rods, and vice versa. The holders may be constructed of different sizes, to suit the trade; but by means of the adjustable rods a holder having a back four and a half inches wide can be used for books varying from that thickness to two inches in thickness.

F represents a support-rod bent to' form a horizontal bearing, 1), and having its ends attached to the support-board A, and is in the required position and of the required length to form a support for the back end of the holder-back,when the holder is in the raised horizontal position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Plates (Z d are attached to the front ends of the lids for holding a book from slipping off the holder when open in an inclined position.

Instead of attachingthe holder to a separate support-board, A, it may be mounted upon and attached to the top of a suitable stand of convenient size for beinginoved about a room. When attached to the support A, it may be placed upon the librarytable or any suitable stand.

\Vhen a book held by my improved holder is closed, it rests in a horizontal position on the leather strips, the rods E pressing thelids C 0 against the lids of the closed book, as seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings. hen the holder and book are in this closed position, slight downward pressure upon the edge of either lid will open them in position. convenient for reading or consulting the book by a person while sitting, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Vhen the holder is in this open inclined position, slight forward upward force applied to the front of the holder will placeit in a raised horizontal position convenient for reading or consulting the book by a person while standing, as seen in Fig: 5. Then slight downward pressure upon the front of the book will return it to the open inclined position, and then by a slight downward pressure upon themiddle or back portion of the book or slight lifting force upon either lid the book is returned to the horizontal closed position.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure'by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a book-holder, with a supportboard, A, of the back B, hinged at the front to a support-b0ard, the hinged lids In testimony whereof I have affixed my sig- [0 Q C, and the support-rods E E, in two parts, nature in presence of two Witnesses. connected by the adjusting-nuts 0 c, substantially as and for the purposes described. JAMES A. WVINTERMUTE.

2. The combination, in a book-holder, with a support-board, A, of the hinged back B, the Vitnesses: hinged lids O O, the hinged board D, the lid- V. S. ROBERTSON, supports E E, and the middle support, F. sub- THos. G. TAYLOR. stantially as and for the purposes described. I 

